By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services
Transgender individuals born in Arizona are entitled to get an amended birth certificate without first having to undergo a sex change operation.
In a new order issued on Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge James Soto directed the Department of Health Services to no longer comply with existing state law making surgery a prerequisite. And he gave the agency 120 days to alter its regulations to recognize and comply with his ruling.
But none of that means everyone will now be free to simply demand a new birth certificate. Rachel Berg, attorney for the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, filed the lawsuit in 2020 on behalf of three transgender boys whose Arizona birth certificates listed them as female and a transgender girl identified as male. She said it will require the attestation of a medical doctor that the person has undergone a sex change.
